Various wheelchair tables and trays have been proposed. These proposals include the table assembly of Groll, U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,833, issued July 18, 1989. The Groll device provides a complex double pivot and slide arrangement allowing a table to be stored at the side of the chair or used in a position extending across the front of the chair. The double pivot and slide system for this table is undesirably complex. The double pivot must be positioned, for space reasons, in front of the arm rest, so that the table projects to the front of the chair when stored. This limits access to the chair.
Another self-storing table is described in Minati U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,884, issued October 25, 1988. The Minati table is mounted on the chair using a clamp on one of the vertical standards at the front of the chair and a mounting bracket projecting laterally outwardly and then upwardly from the clamp. At the top of the mounting bracket, the table itself is mounted using a sliding pivot. The table folds in half and stores in a vertical position at the side of the chair. In the stored position, the table projects to the front of the chair and is positioned some distance from the side of the chair proper. This appears to be necessary in order to clear the drive wheel and brake on the table side of the chair.
The objective of the present invention is to provide a simple, effective table assembly for a wheelchair.